Retirement planning in Interesting Times

[gwendally]

One of the things I've noticed while taking care of the octogenarian's finances is how many vultures are circling them, swooping down to take a chunk here and there.  With all the Baby Boomers about to retire, there just is no asset in the world as rich as the retirement savings of the Baby Boomers and their never-dying parents.  And, guess what

Comments

[admnaismith]

Index funds are a decent alternative to fee-loaded mutual funds. They don't have management fees because they aren't managed; they just automatically do whatever the Dow or the S&P 500 or whatever index you're using does. I've found it the best vehicle for when you make moderate monthly deposits and dollar cost average the investments. My discount broker doesn't take a commission or end load on that kind of investment at all, whereas every online trade of an individual stock or fund is $8 a pop, so you better buy large amounts of that stock or fund

[gwendally]

Yeah, I think index funds or ETFs are the way to go.

Not only are the full-fee brokerage accounts charging bizarre commissions, but they investors get atrocious advice for their money. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that Edward Jones franchises are the equivalent of H&R Block franchises. They serve the people who don't know any better.

[lds]

Yowza. Dally, good thing you didn't take this horrible advice in 2010:

[jsl32]

this dilemma eats at us, since we don't want to buy a home that will take 30 years to pay off.

so far we've found the best way to go is to sit in cash when you don't see anything promising to invest in and when you do, go strong and take your profits off the table once you see them.

it is a little too close to gambling rules for me to be at ease with it, but it's also the only way to get 10%+ returns often enough to recover losses from sitting in cash or index funds.